On each side of the great cobbled rectangle that is the Plaza del Obradoiro stand buildings representative of the powers that have marked and still mark the history of Compostela. To the north is the Hostal dos Reis Católicos, a former hospital for pilgrims and today run as a Parador Nacional.

On the west side stands the Pazo de Raxoi, head office of the City Council and Presidency of the Xunta de Galicia (regional council), Classicist in style.

To the south stands the Colegio de San Xerome, now the university’s Vice-Chancellor’s Office. To the east is the great cathedral complex, with the Iglesia Metropolitana in the centre, the museum to the right and the Palacio Arzobispal to the left. This Archbishop’s Palace is an amalgam of several smaller palaces that have merged into each other over the centuries. A large part is still the archbishop’s residence today, so it is not open to the public, but it is well worthwhile  to drop into the oldest rooms, which are open to visits. This spot is known as Pazo de Xelmírez and is a unique specimen of civil Romanesque architecture.

Through the Arco de Palacio we come out again into the Plaza del Obradoiro on our way to the Plaza de la Acibechería, also called the Plaza de la Inmaculada. On one side of this square is the main entrance of the Monasterio de San Martiñ Pinario, one of Spain’s biggest monasteries and the biggest building in Santiago, built between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. On the other side of the square we can see the northern wall of the cathedral, an eclectic mix of Baroque and Neoclassical styles.

To get to the Plaza de la Quintana we pass between some arcades and the wall of the Capilla de la Corticela or take the Calle Vía Sacra. This second option is perhaps the best due to the surprising Baroque view it offers with the Torre de la Berenguela in the background. The square is divided into two parts, the Quintana dos Vivos in the upper level and the Quintana dos Mortos in the lower level, both linked by a stairway.

The Plaza de Praterías takes is name from the platerías(silversmith’s) still to be found there today. It is the smallest, neatest and most secluded of the squares surrounding the cathedral. The oldest part is made up by the Pórtico de Praterías, a Romanesque gem often overshadowed by the nearby Portico de la Gloria. Beside it stands the Gothic base of the fourteenth-century Torre del Reloj, the clocktower also often called Torre de la Berenguela in honour of Berenguel de Landoira. Outside the cathedral cloister stands the Fachada del Tesoro, one of Galicia’s Renaissance masterpieces made by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón. One of its most remarkable features is the staggered tower, in which some critics already descry influences of the recently discovered Americas.

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